Human remains found in December during a search for clues about a missing Myrtle Beach area woman have been identified as those of a 47-year-old man who had been missing since July 4, 2011, according to authorities.

Human remains found in December during a search for clues about a missing Myrtle Beach area woman have been identified as those of a 47-year-old man who had been missing since July 4, 2011, according to authorities.

Horry County Chief Deputy Coroner Tamara Willard said Tuesday that the remains discovered Dec. 28 along Tidewater Drive in the Myrtle Beach area have been identified as David Matthew Mino.

The 47-year-old was reported missing Aug. 15, 2011 by his sister after he had not been seen since July 4 of that year, according to an Horry County police report. Mino had lived alone in a mobile home in Garden City Beach, while the rest of his family lived out of the area.

On Tuesday, Willard said the manner of Mino’s death remains under investigation and Horry County police are looking into the incident.

Horry County police Lt. Robert Kegler said since the means of Mino’s death remain unknown, detectives continue to investigate his disappearance and death.

“A yellow moped that David was operating at the time of his disappearance remains missing,” Kegler said Tuesday.

In the 2011 report, Mino’s sister told officers that Mino did not work and had mental issues and substance abuse problems. She said he received money via a direct deposit account and had not removed any funds from the bank for several weeks, which was unlike him.

Family members attempted to contact him, but were unable to and learned from a friend that Mino was last seen on July 4, 2011, according to the report. Officers searched local hospitals, jails and did not find any information about him so they entered him into the National Crime Information Center.

Mino’s remains were discovered by a search team looking for clues into the disappearance of 20-year-old Heather Elvis, who was last seen Dec. 17 and last heard from in phone calls on early Dec. 18, police said.

At the time the bones were discovered, Horry County Coroner Robert Edge said the remains were not found together in skeleton form, but possibly were scattered by an animal.

Officials gathered the bones along with some clothing items that included “sun bleached greenish-yellow swim trunks” and a yellow and white metal chain with a yellow and white metal cross with clear stones and the word “Spike's” engraved on the back.

At the time, officials also released photos of those items with the hope someone would recognize them, Willard said.